Rosser, McIntyre hit home runs

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GREENSBORO, March 22, 2008 – The thinking was the North Carolina A&T baseball team would need strong pitching performances to match two Norfolk State pitchers who came into the game with a combined ERA barely above 2.00.

The Aggies didn’t exactly get those strong pitching performances, but the Norfolk State starters clearly didn’t quiet the Aggie bats on Saturday. Norfolk State’s defense wasn’t kind to its starters either as the Aggies swept a conference doubleheader from the Spartans, 10-5 and 10-7.

The Aggies (9-11, 2-0 MEAC) have now won six out of their last seven. In the first game, C.J. Beatty was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a RBI. Joe McIntyre, Nelson Santos and Neil Rosser chipped in with two hits apiece, including a home run from Rosser and two RBI from McIntyre.

Tim Johnson (3-1) got the win for the Aggies although he didn’t have his normal great control. He went 5.2 innings and struck out and walked five. A walk in the first inning led to a two-run home run by John Boyd to give the Spartans an early 2-0 lead. But Johnson received a lot of help in the third.

Neil Rosser led the inning off with a single to center, which was followed by a Joe Wade double. Spartans starter Joey Seal loaded the bases for the Aggies when he walked Lester Rivernbark. With one out, McIntyre roped a single to right field. Rosser and Wade scored on the single and Rivernbark went home on an error to give the Aggies the lead at 3-2. After Jeremy Jones’ groundout allowed McIntyre to move to third, Beatty’s single scored McIntyre.

The Aggies used another Spartan miscue to close out the scoring. After a Nelson Santos single put runners on first and second, Beatty stole third and went home on an error by the Spartans catcher. The Aggies scored two more runs in the fifth on unearned runs. Rosser’s home run in the sixth gave the Aggies an 8-3 lead.

The Spartans would get closer, however. With the bases loaded in the seventh, Jerrod Farley hit a slow grounder to second to squeeze out an infield hit that scored Moriba George. Another ground ball, this one by Chase Bailey, helped the Spartans move to within three at 8-5.

Relief pitcher Marquis Frink stepped in to start the eighth and shut down the Spartans. The Aggies added two more runs in the eighth to give Frink even more a cushion. He really didn’t need it. He gave up a hit to Chris Joyce in the ninth but got Ryan Wiggins to ground into a force out to end the game and earn the save.

In the second game, Jeremy Jones went 3-for-3 with two RBI and Beatty hit his team-leading sixth home run while adding three RBIs for the Aggies. John Primus (2-2) earned the win after going five innings, striking out three and walking four.

The Aggies were able to get to Spartans starter Leon Schabacker early. He came into the game with a 1.04 ERA, but gave up four runs in the fourth thanks to two Spartan errors. The Aggies opened the game with three straight hits. One of those hits led to a Jones RBI single that scored Mayo for a 1-0 lead.

A throwing error by Schabacker led to another Aggies run and another Spartans error on a Santos ground ball gave the Aggies a 3-0 lead. A Rosser sacrifice fly capped off the four-run inning for the Aggies. The Aggies would go on to score at least one run in the first four innings of the game to take an 8-1 lead. The Spartans rallied by scoring four runs in the fifth, which prompted head coach Keith Shumate to again turn to Frink with the Aggies lead cut to 8-5.

Beatty’s two-run homer helped Frink, but the Spartans added two runs in the seventh before Frink struck out Billy Canady to end the game and earn his third save of the season. The Aggies and the Spartans conclude their three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m., from War Memorial Stadium.